This invention relates generally to athletic shoes and more specifically to a cushioned shoe sole construction.
Athletic shoes of the type under consideration are constantly being improved both with respect to the fit of the uppers and the cushioning and slip resistant features of the sole. It is most important that proper cushion be provided in view of the extreme physical demands made on the feet of players of this most active sport.
Cushioning as currently provided on athletic shoes takes many forms. For example U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,307 discloses a basketball shoe having a cellular midsole which is one approach to the problem but is expensive. Other approaches include forming the entire midsole of polyurethane cushioning material as opposed to the more common and more easily workable Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA). Several manufacturers have utilized a construction which includes an insert of polyurethane cushioning material located within the midsole at the ball of the foot and sometimes at the heel of the foot. This material is inserted between the insole and the outsole and is covered by the outsole tread with the result that full advantage is not taken of the superior cushioning quality of polyurethane. Thus, in this construction the outsole extends beneath the insert which reduces the cushioning effect at these critical points.
The present invention solves these and other problems in a manner not disclosed by the known prior art.